Hometeam: Gardner, MIAA appear headed to court over postseason ban

The nearly yearlong battle between the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association and the city of Gardner appears headed to court. And it's a place both sides say they don't want to be.

By Dave Nordman TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The nearly yearlong battle between the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association and the city of Gardner appears headed to court.

And it's a place both sides say they don't want to be.

City solicitor John Flick sent a three-page certified letter to MIAA executive director Richard Neal on Wednesday requesting a meeting to resolve the dispute that began last February and concluded on Jan. 16 with all Gardner High winter sports teams being banned from the postseason.

In between, the sides have argued their points publicly and privately, with the debate often confrontational.

Gardner officials maintain that no rules were broken by the school's former swim coach and that any violations of the MIAA's “bona fide team rule” were the result of a one-sided investigation by a vindictive parent.

Meanwhile, the MIAA claims the Gardner High swim program was more reflective of a club team and its practice schedule extremely abbreviated for one that had won 16 state championships.

The end result was Gardner being stripped of its 2012 state sectional title and ordered to return the MIAA-issued trophy. But Gardner did not, instead opting to appeal the ruling, which was upheld.

Still, Gardner officials kept the trophy, despite numerous efforts by the MIAA to take it back. So, on Jan. 16 the MIAA imposed the additional sanctions.

Gardner's mayor said he was shocked by the postseason ban, but MIAA public information officer Paul Wetzel said school officials shouldn't have been.

On Thursday, Mr. Wetzel volunteered several written correspondences between Mr. Neal, Gardner High principal Donna Pierce and school superintendent Carol Daring that gave the school specific deadlines in which to return the trophy.

“It was all clearly spelled out for them,” Mr. Wetzel said. “We did everything we could to avoid this situation from happening.”

Mr. Wetzel said the MIAA's efforts to retrieve the trophy were ignored, even after Gardner lost its appeal on Nov. 28. The school was first stripped of its title on Oct. 19.

According to documents provided to the Telegram & Gazette by Mr. Wetzel, Mr. Neal sent a lengthy email to Ms. Pierce on Dec. 11 that included a “post appeal” deadline of noon on Dec. 21 to return the trophy to the MIAA offices in Franklin.

The city solicitor's certified letter claims that “this e-mail was sent to the Gardner High School Principal and did not include a copy to the School Committee Chair (Mr. Hawke), or the Superintendent (Ms. Daring).”

Mr. Wetzel said the email was only sent to Ms. Pierce, but the principal told Mr. Neal that she planned to forward it to Ms. Daring.

“I am forwarding your request for the return of the Sectional Trophy and I respectfully refer you to our Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Carol Daring, to sort that one out. I look forward to more peaceful times ahead,” the email from Ms. Pierce to Mr. Neal reads, in part.

Mr. Wetzel told the T&G that while the MIAA usually deals only with principals and athletic directors, Ms. Pierce “made it clear from the start of the appeal process” that Ms. Daring would decide when to hand over the trophy. In fact, Mr. Wetzel said, when the MIAA issued its postseason ban, it delivered the news by email to Ms. Daring, not Ms. Pierce.

Ms. Daring did not return messages left for her by the Telegram & Gazette.

According to the documents provided by Mr. Wetzel, Mr. Neal sent another email — this one addressed to both Ms. Pierce and Ms. Daring — at 3:35 p.m. on Dec. 11, giving the Gardner officials another deadline of noon on Dec. 12 to guarantee the trophy would be returned.

Only the trophy's return, Mr. Neal said, would acknowledge forfeiture of the sectional title.

That email reads, in part: “I suggest, and hope the Board would accept, that relinquishing the Association-awarded trophy, and thereby acknowledge forfeiture of that regional MIAA championship is — under the circumstances — the opportunity for us all to move forward. I hope this makes sense to both of you, and that you find this a helpful suggestion. Kindly advise by noon tomorrow, if this is an acceptable solution to you. Thank you for your consideration of my thought.”

At 12:42 p.m. the next day, with the deadline to assure the trophy's return past, Ms. Pierce sent another email to Mr. Neal that reads: “It is after 12:00 and I'm sorry to say, I have not heard from Dr. Daring yet.”

After that, Gardner officials made no attempt to return the trophy before Jan. 16, according to Mr. Wetzel.

The correspondences between Mr. Neal, Ms. Pierce and Ms. Daring are in contrast to the comments made by Gardner Mayor Mark Hawke after the MIAA issued its postseason ban.

Mr. Hawke — unaware of the deadlines, he said — returned the trophy to the MIAA the morning of Jan. 17.

“Shame on Gardner, shame on me for not double-checking on it,” he said then. “But never did they say (after we lost the appeal) that if you don't return it by this deadline here's the punishment. They never said anything like that.”

Mr. Hawke said Friday that he accepts full responsibility as chairman of the School Committee and the city's top elected official.

“No doubt, there was a breakdown in communication,” said Mr. Hawke, who said the MIAA should have penalized Gardner High, but not its athletes.

That was the focus of the certified letter sent to the MIAA by the city solicitor, who argues that the school was denied its rights under the MIAA Constitution.

“No member school may be suspended from the Association until a hearing has been held with the representative of that school … and that a member school shall be given notice concerning the nature of the alleged violation,” the letter reads, in part.

As of Friday, Mr. Hawke said Mr. Neal had not responded to the letter.

Mr. Wetzel said last week that the MIAA did not know what the new punishment would be against Gardner High until it was decided, debated and voted on by its board of directors on Jan. 16.

“We were still hoping they would do the right thing and return the trophy,” Mr. Wetzel said.

But, as the emails prove, he said, Gardner officials knew about the Dec. 12 and Dec. 21 deadlines.

“They ignored a directive and now they are paying the penalties,” Mr. Wetzel said. “As harsh as they might be, they have nobody to blame but themselves.”

Mr. Hawke is still optimistic the MIAA will reverse its postseason ban, but recognizes that court may be the city's only option — even if losing the case would result in the city paying the MIAA's legal fees, according to the association's membership agreement.

“Gardner has extended an olive branch in the form of a letter that will hopefully allow cooler heads to prevail, the finger pointing to stop and an amicable resolution to be obtained,” he said.